Clara and the Spade Pirates
by Pahreza
Summary: Spoiler in summary: warning! Clara has trained all her life at the marine base where her mother works. But she has always felt that she didn't belong so when she meets the Spade pirates and their charismatic captain, she finds out what she really wants with her life.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

The pirate age had been the worst nightmare for both marines and civilians. Pirates ruled the sea and plundered as they saw fit on the many small islands throughout the world. It was in this world that our heroes set sails to conquer the vast ocean. A place many pirates dreamed of experiencing, though only few managed to survive to tell the story afterwards. This tale begins in the vast ocean, on one of the larger islands at the beginning of Grand Line. Seventeen years after Gol D. Roger's death, pirates are as common as ever, and the marines fight with all their power to stop them. It is in this era our heroes get to shine.

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**Chapter 1**

The training today had been hard, but she had enjoyed every minute of it. "To become truly great, one must endure." She smiled to herself as she ran along the beach, her bare feet sinking into the sand for every step. Her mom's words of wisdom always seemed more perplexing than profound coming from a blacksmith. Clara knew though, that behind these words was some truth. She dreamed of reaching the great and knew that the time spent on training was well spent. She saw it in the results. During the sessions with the other guys she could now run for hours without stop, having gained extra stamina by running in the sand. She also knew that she had to give it more than the rest of the men. They had it easier than women in this business, gaining muscle mass faster and easier than she could ever hope for. But she had just focused on things she could gain an advantage in. Dexterity, stamina and wit had kept her at the top of her class and she had only improved since then.

Clara changed her pace as the beach changed from sand to small stones, treacherously slippery as they had been polished for centuries by the current. She slowed down and her eyes were glued to the ground, making sure she didn't take a wrong step somewhere. But luckily the small stones soon changed to larger rocks, getting big enough for Clara to jump from one rock to another. This was one of her favorite exercises. Always challenging herself to do it quicker and more outrageous than the last time. She jumped from the lowest on onto the next; she spun around herself in the air, landing on her hands. They were a bit rough from all the training, but then again she had never been a soft handed kind of girl, though her mom had forced her to learn to sew.

Clara smiled again, she knew the next jump by heart, and using the momentum she then rotated to the left, kicking in the air to increase the speed and then letting her hands push her off the rock, she landed on the next one, knees bended ready for the next move.

"Claaaara?" A voice called out for her and Clara frowned. The voice was very familiar and she knew immediately that the training was done for that day.

She looked up from her crouching position and saw a heavily breathing young man, his cheeks red, probably from running. He was standing above her on the top of a steep slope, resting his hands on his knees.

"Wow, I didn't know it was possible to be that much out of shape." Clara grunted at the man. She was irritated about being interrupted mid training.

"Says the training freak. You are out here every day, get a life." He spit back at her.

"Well at least when I'm "having a life"." Signaling the irony with her fingers, "I have friends the same age as me to hang out with." She mocked him, hell no if she would let him win.

"I have friends the same age as me they are just not a bunch of bullies like yours."

She snorted. "They are just not as weak as yours…" he interrupted her.

"If you are just going to insult me, then I won't tell you why mom sent me." The man, her younger brother crossed his arm and put on a stubborn grimace. Clara knew that it had to be important for her mom to send her brother out here after her, so she held back the next insult and instead just shrugged.

"Whatever…" she said. "Just tell me already." She leaned back with one foot and then swiftly moved forward, jumping up the slope, landing with both feet right next to her brother.

"Show off!" he grumbled. She sighed impatiently.

"So? What was the _big_ news you were forced to come and tell me?" She started to walk away from the ocean towards their home. Her brother's face changed from grimacing at her to a big smile.

"Guess which admiral is visiting this Island for the yearly inspection?" Having mentally prepared herself for one of her mom's silly antics this came as a surprise. She looked at him with her mouth wide open.

"No way? An admiral?" He just grinned.

"Yeah mom said you would probably react like that." She hit him on his arm.

"Hey!" he whined, putting a hand on the spot where she had hit him. She knew that it hadn't hurt him at all though; he was physically way stronger than her, having become their mother's apprentice at the age of fourteen, his overarm was now as wide as her thigh. They had measured it once, and then she had stopped pestering him about being weak. But the fit part was still true; he did almost no exercise besides swinging the hammer in the forge.

"Byro!" she almost yelled. "This is really huge! Why did it take you so long to just say it?" She was consciously ignoring the fact that she was the one who had started to insult him. "What did mom say? Tell me her words exactly!"

"Hey, cool down nee-san." He said in a calm voice, knowing how she hated to drag information out of him. "Mom is going to tell you everything once you get home. But it was something about a parade." She stared at him. "Yeah, I know. Way to aggregated in my opinion." He continued. "But anyways, they haven't reached the harbor yet. They are apparently waiting for the city to get the parade ready. So there is enough time for you to get dresses up to see a real life admiral." He teased her, well knowing that that was not her plan.

"As if I would go dress up for an admiral." She snorted. "I have to wear the uniform of course. Not that the parade part of isn't fun, I just want to see one of the strongest men alive. Admirals are like legends to marines." She told her brother for the he-didn't-bother-count-anymore-time. He just shrugged while she looked pondering in front of her. "I wonder how strong he really…"

"Why? Do you want to fight him?" Byro laughed at her as they continued to walk . "You would die instantly."

"Oh shut it!" she said.

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My focus in this chapter was to establish Clara's will to become great, which is something she'll need further on. What did you think reading this? Please review, it is always very appreciated (^o^)=b

PS. Yes, I will get my other stories updated soon. (^_^;) Gomenasai


	2. Chapter 2

_"Firsts": The islands __located at the beginning of Grand Line __which together in a line are parallel to the Red Line._

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Everyone was standing straight, hands folded behind their back and feet at hips width apart. No one spoke as the officers walked up and down the ranks. Clara could feel the anxiety from her superiors. This was the first time after Gol D Roger's death that an admiral visited the Firsts, and the pressure to impress him was clear to everyone. She felt the white and blue shirt itch, it didn't fit as she was wearing a men's uniform; there were none for women. Her pants' length had been too long and had had to be altered to fit her shorter legs, but the shirt she had received was a size too small, and it was now really getting on her nerves.

She saw an opportunity just as one officer, again, moved past her position. Just as he turned his back to her, she jerked her shoulder a little, just enough so that the fabric could take care of the itch for her. Luckily she wasn't noticed. What an uproar it could have been. They were really on edge; she thought, just as a poor guy down one row sneezed, bestowing him a long speech about proper attitude.

Reni was standing right behind her and she heard how he sighed as the sneezing fellow was told that since the admiral would be there soon he was let off lightly. Reni had always been even more impatient than Clara had even through childhood. Tulko on the other hand was able to keep a straight face through everything. He was placed in the front row, along with all the other tallest and strongest privates. The most impressive in the front, Clara thought while battling her body, which wanted to do many other entirely things than standing here.

She imagined what her two friends were thinking at the moment. She herself was dreaming about a nice cold beer down at the pub. She envied Serena for working at the bar, being able to just put a close sign up and casually walk down to the harbor to watch the parade. Ah, a cold beer… That was something she really wanted right now. To sit with Reni at the pub, giggling at Tulko and Serena. There was obviously something going on between those two, but they denied it every time they were asked about it. But there was no way that helping Serena clean up after a long night at the pub was that excitingly in itself. Tulko had denied it, of course, but Clara had spotted the eagerness in his voice when he offered his help. She had also noticed how quick Serena had made everyone leave after the help was offered. A smile almost crept upon Clara's lips at the memory but she managed to force the corners of her mouth down and her stare straight forward.

Finally they were ordered to turn right and march down to the harbor. The admiral's ship would arrive soon. Now something was interesting was about to happen. Clara felt her heart beat faster as the sounds of the march in step. An admiral. One of the strongest all over the oceans would visit her hometown. She knew she wasn't going to get close to this person, but just to feel the presence… she expected it to be intense.

As they entered the area down at the harbor she dared to look at little to each side to get a view of the whole spectacle. Being placed in the middle row, her view was slightly hindered by her fellow privates as they were slightly taller than her. She looked at the crowd. People were everywhere. The whole place was packed. The bigger children were sitting on rooftops, the smaller ones on their parents' backs, so they could get a good view.

The marines marched up and took place along the red carpet. The line to the left took place to the left; the right went right and the middle line, which Clara was a part of, split up. Every other private went either left or right, and lastly the officers, trainers and coaches placed themselves in front of the privates. The movement helped against the aching muscles which had been getting stiff standing at the inspection.

As everyone's gaze fell upon the figure appearing on the ship, Clara's eyes fell upon the crowd. Everyone had silenced, stretching their necks to see as much as possible. Even the children were quiet, though she noticed some older boys and girls on a roof, grinning to each other as they pointed down towards the ship. She also spotted a man standing on the roof as the children. He was also smiling, but this was more like a smirk and it reached his eyes. She noticed that he was only wearing shorts and that his shirt was open, which was odd, since it was only early spring, and still pretty chilly. He was leaning against a chimney with his arm crossed over his chest. She could see his black hair underneath an orange hat, but he was too far away for her to really recognize his face, but the smile was wide enough for her to spot from this distance. She frowned. That attire stood out, but he wasn't one she could remember. Then again the island was rather large, and she knew she hadn't met even half of the inhabitants. He was probably a farm boy visiting the city, and taking the opportunity to see the admiral himself.

Clara felt everyone suddenly held their breath and she turned her eyes towards the ship again. A tall person stood at the top of the gangway with a stern expression on his face. Immediately Clara knew that this was the person they had all been waiting for. She had been right in her anticipations about the presence of the man. The air suddenly was heavier to breath. This was how powerful an admiral was. She wondered if the two other admirals were just as strong. She also wondered how often their powers were needed at the other end of Grand Line and in the New World. The man was wearing a dark blue suit underneath his white cloak marked with the stripes of an admiral. A tattoo was spotted on his chest as his shirt was not buttoned all the way up. He walked down the gangway and people started to cheer. Without turning her head, Clara knew how all the privates' eyes were pointed toward the man. As he reached the ground he was met by the mayor of the city, which also made him the leader of the island though the mayor was more a symbolic figure than a real head of the island. Since this was the main base of marines through all of the Firsts, the marines were the ones who really set the order of the day. Somehow the admiral was exactly as Clara had expected, but at the same time he was so far away from what she had hoped an admiral was. She couldn't put a finger on what it was. There was just… something about him…

The citizens of the island had made sure that everything was in order for the celebrity visit. The best restaurant had apparently been working nonstop to prepare the best food possible, and the island's best musician had been summoned to entertain. As a greeting the youngest daughter of the mayor was supposed to welcome the admiral with flowers. She was trembling as she took a step away from her father to give the admiral the flowers. He took them but his expression was more of a man who had just eaten a grapefruit. He continued to walk and as he passed her position she felt how the tiny hairs on her arms stood straight up. As her eyes followed the man, she quickly looked up to she if the farm boy was still there, but he had disappeared. He had probably moved to get a closer look she thought to herself as the admiral continued the slow walk up to the mayor's house, thankfully she would be dismissed as soon as the admiral had gone inside. The excitement she had felt earlier about seeing a real life admiral had faded away by now.

Though she recognized the might of Sakazuki or Akainu, as he was called among the officers, she also knew that he wasn't one she would admire for his personality.

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_A few characters have been introduced; we will see more of them in the next couple of chapters. We also spotted a very special character ;) _

_Please leave a review. I love reviews. (^o^)=b_


	3. Chapter 3

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"Ahh!" Clara slammed the empty mug down at the table, grinning to Tulko and Reni who had done the same. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

"That was well deserved." Reni burped leaning back on the bench. But he didn't sit long before he raised his mug up and called: "Oi. Serena! We need a refill over here." He waved the mug in the air. Clara chuckled. The three friends were sitting at the usual table. They were all exhausted from today's activities. The training sessions had been harder than usual, and with the following march in honor of the admiral they were all looking forward to the free time afterwards.

"Remember the drinks are on you tonight, Reni. You were the last to get here."

"Why are we still playing that game? Aren't we too old to play the-last-one-is-a-toad?" Reni complained but Tulko and Clara just looked at each other smirking.

"Nope. Not as long as we can get free drinks." Tulko said.

"I love free drinks." Clara declared just as Serena walked over with three mugs full of beer.

"You guys, be nice to Reni." She put the mugs down, and the three each took one. Reni smiled up to her.

"He can't help that he is a slow runner." She added and they all laughed as Reni protested.

"I'm not always last…" he pouted. "Last week Clara was buying." Clara smiled back to him.

"Well if you started running the same time we did, instead of arguing with our backs, you might win more often." Reni's pout continued as he didn't answer. Tulko was occupied by Serena who was whispering something in his ear. Clara caught a slight blush out of the corner of her eye. She hid a smirk behind her hand, as she tried to casually lean on the table, resting her chin in her hands. They were kinda cute, she thought to herself. Then she heard a grunt next to her. Reni had also noticed the couple.

"This is so not fair." He mumbled to Clara. "I'm the only single one left."

She smiled at the poor guy. She knew the feeling of being a third wheel, from last year when the guys had been dating and she hadn't. She nuzzled his hair.

"Oh, don't worry about it. It won't be long before you find yourself a cute butt to look at again." He frowned.

"Come on. He has got to have more than a good butt, great abs is also important." Clara tried to match his serious tone.

"Oh, yes. Definitely. Very important." She failed to keep a straight face as Tulko turned towards his friends again, when Serena had to leave to help other customers at the bar.

"Who got great abs?"

"WE do!" Clara exclaimed more excitingly than normally and she wrapped an arm around Reni's neck. The effect of drinking the beer so quickly had started to show, but luckily it took more than one beer to get her really drunk. Reni laughed and pointed at Tulko.

"Clare, can Tulko join the club as well? He has better abs than both of us."

"Of course, he… Aw, did you just call me ClarE? You guys haven't called me that since we were children." Reni shrugged, smiled and then teasingly put a finger on Clara's nose. A habit she thought he had finally grown out off as they became adult.

"I haven't called you that since you could win a arm-wrestling against me."

"Of course I don't win at brute force. You are so much bigger than me." She circled her fingers to indicate the difference in their biceps size.

"But hey… As long as I can beat you in in swords and martial arts I guess it should be fair that you can beat me in something…" she teased him.

"Well that is almost an understatement." Tulko joined in. He usually didn't speak much when Clara and Reni got started with one of their silly arguments, but sometimes he joined in on the fun as well.

"Reni might be a good cannoneer, but he hasn't been able to beat any of us since… Has he ever been able to beat us?"

"Hey don't act so tough Tulko. You can't win over Clara in hand-to-hand combat either."

"Or swords." Clara added.

"Right, neither in swords." Tulko nodded, simply ignoring that Reni had tried to ally with him against Clara.

With an distraught moan Reni slid of the bench, hands up in defeat. He walked towards the toilet and as Tulko watched Reni, Clara noticed how his gaze inadvertently fell upon the barmaids, chatting at the bar, Serena being one of them. The girls were laughing at one girl's story, and as she gestured, what Clara guessed was a very brazen comment from a man. The girl put her fists to her hips thrusting her hips back and forth, which left nothing to the imagination of what the man had suggested.

Clara laughed out loud, louder than she intended and to hide it she grabbed her mug and started to chug down some beer. Tulko turned to face her again. He had a twinkle in his eye, he could also see why Clara had laughed so much, he was just better at controlling himself and keeping and, almost, straight face.

"Some men just don't know how to talk to a woman." Clara stated as the mug went away from her mouth again. "Why is that?" she looked questioning at Tulko, who then felt his cheeks redden. He had always been shy talking openly about such topics, something he hadn't grown out of but also something Clara regularly taunted him with.

"I… Eh… Well… What should they do then?" The best defense was an offense. Having her do the talking, at least had him temporarily out of the fire. She smirked to him, knowing full well what tactic he tried to use.

"Well… It's not bad that you are direct, just don't start with it." She leaned back in her seat. "It's about having fun, a good time, if you can't sell that idea, then get lost."

"Is that what Kevin did for you?" Reni had returned and he had apparently overheard some of the conversation. He took a drag of his mug before sitting down again.

"I gotta be honest Clare; I don't really get what see in that guy." Clara shrugged at this remark; she knew that Kevin was a bit awkward with people he didn't know. Saying things he shouldn't, often stomping on people's feelings and being awfully bad at apologizing afterwards.

"Well… He is just so sweet when we are alone…" Reni's raised an eyebrow the obvious question left unspoken but Clara answered it anyways.

"No. We haven't." Now both Reni and Tulko stared at her. "We are taking it slow?" The uncertainty in her voice was clear. The two faces just staring at her made her twist in her seat.

"He wants to take it slow. Something about being sure? I dunno…"

"Seems weird though…" Reni smiled apologetic to Clara. "I mean… There are a lot of our fellow marines who would want to date you, and you are choosing the one who is not sure if he wants to date you?"

"No… It's not like that… Or… Eh…?" Clara sighed yet again, now resting her chin in her hands. She wasn't sure how to explain it. It wasn't that there was no attraction at all between her and Kevin, like they were both good looking, but it was more a comfort relationship than anything else. Dating him also meant that she didn't have to deal with approaches from the other privates. She dated Kevin whose rank was high enough for her to be left alone. So it really didn't bother her that he didn't seem that interested in getting the clothes of her. She had a feeling that if she really wanted him to be naked with her, it would be an easy task doing so. For now though she was content with training and hanging out with her friends most of the time. But how could she tell her friends that?

"It's fine." She smiled her most charming smile. "We're both busy, this suits us." Reni and Tulko looked at each other. They had known Clara since childhood, and they could always tell if she was lying or trying to hide something from them. She was good at many things, but lying wasn't one of them. They often let her lies slip by depending on the situation. If she felt that they didn't need to know the real reason, they wouldn't pressure her. Eventually she would tell them.

Both men had the same thought and Reni gave a small nod to Tulko. Yeah, no need to ask more about the subject right now. Clara on the other hand knew them as well, and could tell immediately that they were being nice to her. She raised her mug in salute.

"Cheers!" she smiled to them.

"Cheers!" they said back.

"To great friends and nakama!" Clara added as all three clinked their mugs against the other, and then drinking. They went quiet for a moment, each leaning back in their seats relaxing as much as possible. Finally Reni stood up.

"Alright guys. Gotta call it a night. I got guard duty tomorrow."

"Aw, already? It's so early." Clara pouted.

"Yeah, well you know, guard duty starts at sunrise, so I need some sleep now." She continued to have a mopey expression as they all three got up. They might as well get home and get some rest.

"You could join me at guard duty? Then we could get on the same shifts."

"Ugh, no thanks. Guard duty sounds so… stationary…"

"Stationary?"

"Yeah… I want to experience the world, and I won't be able to do that by guarding this island. Nothing ever happens here." Reni gave her a hug.

"Experience the world, huh?"

"Where did this come from?" Tulko asked furrowing his brow. "I thought you were satisfied with this island and training as a way to get stronger?"

"I dunno… I just started thinking... you know… after seeing the admiral, I'm not sure that this is what I want."

"No?" Reni looked questioning at her. "I thought he was awesome."

"Hmm…" Clara frowned but didn't want to elaborate. Something just seemed off with that admiral, or maybe it was her and view on being a marine that had changed. It just had never felt like she fitted in. Instead she changed the subject.

"Well, "mister" guard duty sir. Since when did you sign up for that?"

"Since I realized that I would get an extra day off each week?" he chuckled back. They had reached the door by now, and Reni was walking slowly to say the last good night before he left.

Both Clara and Tulko laughed with Reni. They knew that he was the laziest private in their year.

"Besides I get to practice a lot more shooting the cannons as a guard, so I thought 'why not?'"

"Oh, well when you put it like that…" Tulko said, Clara nodding. "Then you better make sure you get enough rest. The sergeants are tough on the guards."

"Ugh, don't remind me… Anyways! I'll see you at the joined training tomor… no the day after tomorrow?"

"Yes." Clara said happily, "Finally got a day off. It's gonna be great."

"Then enjoy it a little extra for me, will ya?"

Reni waved them goodnight with a smile and walked toward his bed.

Tulko put an arm around Clara and kissed her on her head.

"You know…" Tulko began as they watched Reni walk home "You don't have to hurry figuring things out. Take your time." He gave her a squeeze. "But if you don't think you are having a future in the Marines, then don't push it. We will be there for you whatever you choose." Clara hugged him back.

"Thanks Tulko."

"Even if you should continue your temporary path as a dancer, we fully support your decision." The snicker in his voice was not lost on her. She hit him with a soft punch in his side.

"Shut up!" she pouted. "You know that I only learned that because of a bet."

"Hehe, it was entertaining nonetheless."

"Bah… I love you, but I think it's time for you to go to bed."

"Yeah… Uhm… I think I'll wait a bit longer… I…" Clara almost sighed. He was obviously looking for an excuse to stay.

"Waiiiting for someone?" she teased back. As Tulko opened his mouth to try and explain she put her hands up as in defeat.

"No, don't say anything. I'll let you stay if you want to." He sighed, thankful for not having to find another lie as why he wanted to stay. Clara gave him one last hug, said goodnight and turned to leave. Tulko had not moved and gave her a small have as she left. He smiled as his best friend now walked home. But before he could feel safe from her prying person, she turned toward him, now walking backwards.

"Besides… I have a pretty good guess as to why you want to stay." She blinked to him with a huge smirk on her face and then disappeared down a corner. Tulko was left standing with a blushing red face.

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_A huge thanks to you guys who have followed or favorited this story. It means the world to me. You are welcome to write in the reviews or a PM if you have any questions, suggestions or the like. _

_Hopefully you got to know Clara a lot better through this chapter? And yes, I plan on letting her meet Ace face-to-face very soon._ (^o^)=b


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